Tag Archives: Characters

We love builds with character! Creating characters from LEGO elements, whether traditional System bricks or using elements from Bionicle and Constraction themes, is an amazing way to showcase your building skills. Brining out emotion and personality in bricks is an art!

RIP Stephen Hawking (1942 – 2018)

World-renowned theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking has passed away at the age of 76. While his professional accomplishments are well-known (and too numerous to list here), he was also a staple of popular culture, making cameos in numerous television shows and even becoming the subject of a 2014 bio-pic.

Among the many parodies of Professor Hawking was the LEGO version that I built 11 years ago, which continues to be rediscovered by people across the web to this day. Over the past decade I’ve had fun watching him pop up in mass media, and have also featured him in a variety of comical new situations. And exactly 1 year ago this week, this little LEGO model travelled on the same zero gravity flight that his real-world counterpart had taken 10 years earlier …the event that had inspired me to create this build in the first place. Thank you for allowing us to ride your coat-tails, Mr Hawking; rest in peace, and congratulations on beating the odds and having an amazing life that was an inspiration to us all!

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LEGO Star Wars Han Solo, Range Trooper, & Darth Maul buildable figures: Official box art unveiled [News]

The LEGO booth at Toy Fair this year only showcased one buildable or “constraction” figure, a new Darth Maul figure. Several other buildable figures from the spring 2018 wave have been revealed today, including Han Solo and the Range Trooper from the upcoming Han Solo movie.

See the full gallery ofphotos of the upcoming LEGO Star Wars buildable figures

If chins could kill, the Punisher wouldn’t need a gun

Looking a bit like Bruce Campbell, Letranger Absurde‘s iteration of The Punisher looks great. I love the repurposed Galactic Empire Jetpack printed tile for strap buckles, and the binocular gunsight and minifig leg trigger work perfectly to create one of the many guns in Frank Castle’s arsenal. And finally, I think this is the best use of the Jack Stone skull piece I’ve seen.

Mech-Maker

One of the best things about building with LEGO is the story. Every creation has a unique tale to tell, and some fall within an even bigger picture. One Australian builder, Jayfa, made these beautiful figures as part of an elaborate collection of “Plague Mechs.” Hector (pictured right) is an old inventor, and Artillerix (pictured left) is an arms master. They’re leaders fighting against each other in an epic battle!

Jayfa has made mech-building an art. The combination of Bionicle and System parts is truly fantastic, and these posable characters really seem to come to life! Take a look at the revolvers on Hector’s cane, as well as the minifigure backpacks used for his shoulder pads! But both personalities are great! So who’s side will you choose?

Curiously, the only thing that went through the mind of the bowl of petunias as it fell was “Oh no, not again”

Douglas Adams’ quirky comedy sci-fi series The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy arrived on our planet exactly 40 years ago today, introducing our primitive human brains to such concepts as Vogons, Babel fish, infinite improbability drives, towels and the ravenous bugblatter beast of Traal. Broadcast as a radio series in the UK, the story has been adapted and reworked as a TV show, stage show, novels, comic books, a video game and most recently a big budget movie.

To mark the show’s anniversary, the BBC is launching an all-new radio adaption which begins today! Above is my personal LEGO tribute to this frequently-quoted staple of British popular culture. It depicts various Hitchhiker’s Guide characters floating helplessly in space (including a small Easter egg in honor of one particularly famous Adams fan).

Click here for close-up images of each character

Headz up for more Rebel heroes

I have a feeling that the BrickHeadz series still has a pretty long lifespan with the amount of flexibility and simplicity of its appeal to the masses, reinforced by the upcoming 41597 Go Brick Me customization kit. The Star Wars franchise is no stranger to this trend, and we see a healthy amount of creativity that stands out, including these BrickHeadz of Admiral Ackbar, Biggs Darklighter, and Leia Organa. Tom Vanhaelen designed this trio, and really hit the nail on the head with that ‘stash. That printed moustache tile has “I belong to Biggs” written all over it.

Even LEGO Garfield hates Mondays

Garfield was actually created by Jim Davies back in 1978, so he’s not doing too badly for a 40-year old cat. I imagine his love of lasagna, hatred of Mondays, general lazy nature and obsession with eating have not necessarily aided his longevity. This instantly recognisable LEGO version was built by Vlad Efremkin and captures Garfield’s reluctance to get up out of his cat bed in the morning. Those heavy eyelids are a particularly effective use of Commander Cody or Poe Dameron’s shoulder armour.

There cannot be two birds — on a one bird cable

Inspired by the Pixar short For the Birds, Gregory Coquelz has built this faithful recreation of the film’s unfriendly birds. The build captures the expression and character perfectly, thanks to minifig helmets used as eyelids and curved slopes as beaks. The addition of the electrical line and the slight gradient in the background make it almost like watching the cartoon.

Pulp Fiction meets brick reality

The LEGO community’s unending crusade to turn every pop fiction character into a BrickHeadz figure continues today with both Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield; John Stephens did an exceptional job getting these character’s traits into the blocky style. Jules’ hair, while a simple build, does so much to identify him and the cigarette, collars and earrings are more great touches which make this duo so good in this format.

A new take on the old Samus Aran

There have been been many attempts to recreate Metroid‘s Samus Aran in LEGO before, with each one bringing something new to the table. This version by Logey Bear forgoes System bricks for a combination of Technic and “constraction” figure pieces. The obvious standouts here are the comically oversized pauldrons built with Duplo pieces, and the striking teal arm cannon which is built up on a Robo Riders wheel piece.

Do u kno da wey

The Budas Brick’s own Iain Heath obviously seems to kno da wey, while simultaneously eating Tide pods and inapropriately reacting to a serious topic. If you are not sure what I am talking about, Iain has built a mashup of some of the dankest memes of January 2018. Agree with it or not, dank memes are the humour of the present day.

Iain is known for his excellent character builds and always keeping up to date with the hottest trends – from popular media to memes. The Ugandan Knuckles figure is as close to a low-resolution 3D model as a LEGO build can be and the hat is instantly recognizable as well. While the Tide pods are built only out of a few pieces each, they are very obvious when seen accompanied by other January 2018 memes. Now that February has started though, the former memes are officially stale. And now, it is time for CPP memes to take over the internet!

Mary and the Witch’s Flower

Mary and the Witch’s Flower is the first feature from Studio Ponoc, an anime production house formed from the ashes of the legendary Studio Ghibli. Based on the Mary Stewart book The Little Broomstick and directed by the very accomplished Hiromasa Yonebayashi (including his directorial debut with The Secret World of Arrietty), this movie easily matches the charm of any Miyazaki production. I enjoyed it immensely, and even listened to the soundtrack while building this LEGO version of Mary on her broomstick:

The above layout takes inspiration from the pivotal scene where Mary first takes flight on her broomstick. Observant readers will notice the inclusion of Tib the cat, a few Fly-by-Night seeds, and a background made entirely from LEGO bricks.